Letter 5030: People who are well-known and well-tested deserve a ready recommendation, so they may come to the attention of good...

Quintus Aurelius SymmachusUnknown|c. 380 AD|Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|AI-assisted
friendship

People who are well-known and well-tested deserve a ready recommendation, so they may come to the attention of good men under an honorable endorsement. Theodulus, a young man of genuine integrity, enjoys the favor of many whose approval is itself a distinction.

But the difficulties of fortune that beset his life, he hopes, can be removed with your help. I ask, therefore, that you smile favorably on his wishes — lest my testimony be thought worthless, or his hopes be mocked by an empty outcome.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

Bene cognitis ac probatis commendatio prompta debetur, ut ad notitiam bonorum
sub honesta adstipulatione perveniant. Theodulus sincerae probitatis adulescens mul-
10 torum gratia viget, quibus placere laudabile est; sed fortunae difiicultatem, quae cur-
sum vitae eius exasperat, adminiculo tuo sperat posse removeri. quaeso igitur, ut
votis eius benignus adrideas, ne aut meum testimonium pro nihilo habitum iudicetur,
aut spebus illius exitus inanis inludat.

xxxxvrai (xxxxvn) a. 393?

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